Hopper bale opener, hopper feeder, and like apparatus for opening and cleaning cotton or like fibrous material



T. NUTTALL ET AL A ND LIKE APPARATUS FOR OPENING- AND CLEANING COTTON OR LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL May 3, 1932.

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HOPPER BALE OYENER, HOPPER FEEDER, AND LIKE APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON OR LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL v Filed Sept. 29, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 hvvsrvrons 7 M NUTT ILL Jyozvcy/krnmJnonm May 3, 1932. "r. NUTTALL ET AL HOPPER FEEDER,

1,856,287 AND LIKE APPARATUS FOR OPENING HOPPER BALE OPENER,

AND CLEANING COTTON OR LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed Sept. 29, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 R m w T J NLD mpw May 3, 1932.

HOPPER BALE OP T. NUTTALL ET AL ENER, HOPPER FEEDER, AND LIKE APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON OR LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed Sept. 29, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F16- fa Patented May 3, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOM N'UTTALL, 0F EARNWORTHJNEAR BOLTON, AND SYDNEY ALFRED SHOE/TIER, OF DIDSBURY, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND; SAID SHOIBTER ASSIGNOR TO THE BRITISH COTTON INDUSTRY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, A BRIT- ISI-I ASSOCIATION HOPPER BALE OI'ENER, HOPPER FEEDER,

AND LIKE APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND CLEANING COTTON OR LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL Application filed September 29, 1930, Serial No roller or rollers and wherein. the material litted is acted upon by a rotating flapper or liappers, or an additional spiked lattice or kindred devices and the surplus or excess returned back to the hopper.

The delivery end of the upright spiked lat-- tice is stripped by one or more rotating flappers or boaters or mechanical appliances.

All these flappers are intended to act on the cotton mechanically and they generate dust. It is common for the flappers at the delivery side of the lattice to work over grid structures with the idea of getting, rid of dust and dirt, before the cotton is conveyed on by a pneumatic system or by mechanical devices.

In actual practice there is much turmoil in the interior of the hopper structure and much dust there liberated on both sides of the upright lattice, and it is common to enclose or partly enclose the hopper structure or bin, and. by provision of fans or grids over the hopper to endeavour to get rid of the dust from the material handled in the machine.

In such schemes it is diflicult to extract dust effectively, without extracting cotton.

As at present constructed the spiked lifting! lattice or its equivalent, and both clearing and surplus returning flappers or operative contrivances, together with their housings, constitute obstructions within the machine to the tree passage of air from feed to delivery.

lVe consider that such conditions are disadvantageous to the effective removal of dust and our invention contemplates the re-arran remcnt of the flappers or operative contrivanccs and air ways around them in such a manner as to permit a free flow of air through or about the flappers themselves and 485,190, and in Great Britain October 10, 1829.

around them and also the provision of additional air ways external to or divided oil from the existing hopper structure either over the top or around the side or both in such a mannor as to short-circuit the obstructing spiked lattice which together with its surplus returning fiappers or the like under existing conditions, in eii'ect, divides the machine into two compartments, in both of which dust is generated, thus allowing air to enter the hopper at the feed end, permeate and pass through the machine, together with the cotton and to extract the air charged with dust during its passage, at the delivery end of the machine, and to separate and permanently remove such dusty air from contact with the cotton, by means of ordinary dust cages or high speed filtering; cages or other means which automatically separate the dust from the fibre.

The cleaning and conveying operations are assisted by the action of a cage device, preferably a high speed cage, which collects and removes the dust, and liberates the cotton co1- lected on the cage.

The accompanying: drawings illustrate two arrangements which embody the improvements alrcad y clearly sug, ;csted, and, in such dra wings i F l is a sectional elevation of a hopper feeder combined with a high speed cage, a heater contrivance being: shown behind the spil ced littingz lattice, and an overhead conduit or passage way leading from the front oi the hopper or bin to just over said heater contrivance.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of Fig. 1 drawn partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation illustrating a varied. construction wherein the conduits or ducts are combined in or with the sides of the hopper and. deliver the short-circuited d list laden air to the roar part of the hopper opener axially oi the heater contrivance arranged beh nd the lifting: spiked lattice.

Fig. 4 shows a plan of Fig. 3 drawn partly in section.

Fig. 5 indicates over-head and lateral conduit provision.

In the example Fig. 1, the front or feed part of the hopper is marked a and the rear part Z), the conveying lattice c, spiked lifting lattice (Z and revolving flapper or regulating contrivance 6. Behind the upper part of the spiked lifting lattice (Z is shown located a revolvable beating contrivance f which is indicated as working over grid bars 7", and which beater operates in the rear part b of the hopper feeder, which rear part I) is closed in by plates or otherwise top and bottom, to produce a wide chamber leading to the coupled high speed dust cage 9 to be later mentioned.

Leading from the front aof the hopper or bin we arrange a canopy-like conduit it comprising an upper bent wall h and a lower spaced wall If supported by a cross-tie h or otherwise, the ends of the canopy-like conduit being conveniently the end walls of the hopper structure.

Such canopy-like conduit is open at the inlet end it and the outlet end its immediately over the beater f or like revolvable contrivance. The high speed cage 7 works close to the enclosed rear part b of the hopper feeder and is housed in a casing g, and there is shown a closing roller 9 and an air trunk 9 along which the cotton liberated by the cage 9 is conveyed in clean air in manner akin to what is described in U. S. application Serial No. 870,077 filed June 11, 1929. A fan i is shown located over the hopper feeder and discharging along the pipe 71, trunks 2' connecting the casing of the high speed cage 9 to the pipes 2' leading to the fan casing.

When the hopper feeder is at work, the rapidly revolving beater f operating closely to the delivery end of the canopy-like conduit h and the suction through the high speed cage g, induces a. considerable proportion of dusty air from the turmoil in the hopper front a to pass right away along conduit h. whereby the flapper contrivance e and top of the spiked lifting lattice (Z is avoided. As a consequence considerable dirt, etc, is shortcircuited along with some portion of cotton, which latter however reaches the beater f and joins the main body of the opened cotton ready to pass through the rear portion 5 of the hopper feeder to the cage 9. In addition to short-circuiting and getting rid of dirty air, the conduit it allows the cage 9 to obtain an adequate-supply of air for its proper working.

In the modified scheme shown by Figs. 3 and 4-, instead of an over-head or canopylike conduit, we show side outlets h cut in the walls of the hopper and there are provided outside conduits or channels it which lead into the rear structure 6 of the hopper, such conduits or channels communicating axially with the beater contrivance f shown working over the bars f. In this case the beater used is of a mixed flow fan type inducing a flow of air axially and discharging radially. The rest of the construction is similar to that shown by Figs. 1 and 2, and the parts are marked with like reference letters.

In this example a considerable quantity of dirt laden air from the front compartment a of the hopper is, during working of the apparatus, short-circuited and reaches the beating contrivance f, and the high speed cage g can obtain an adequate supply of air induced by the fan 27.

\Ve might provide both an overhead conduit, and a side duct or ducts in the same hopper apparatus, as will be apparent, and as is clearly suggested by Fig. 5.

By our improvements, use is made of air suction in hopper openers by provided air suction devices such as cages, for the withdrawal of dust from the front and back of the upright spiked lattice. e utilize a suction device in such manner that the supply air therefor is drawn substantially out of the hopper structure, and said air is caused to pass directly and indirectly over or adjacent to or in connection with the rear part of the spiked lifting lattice in manner to remove or convey dust and dirt, and so that same may travel along with the opened cotton to cage devices which act to automatically separate the dust and dirt to convey same away and to liberate and deliver the cleaned fibre.

We claim 1. A hopper bale opener, hopper feeder or like apparatus for opening and cleaning cotton and having front compartment and substantially closed rear compartment to said hopper and cotton lifting and regulating contrivances and a beater in the rear of the lifting contrivance, a revolvable dust cage device combined with the substantially closed rear compartment, and air suction means,

and with suction-affected conduit provision leading from the front compartment of the hopper to thebeater in the rear compartment, and with dirt outlet below the revolvable beater, the rear compartment being enclosed between revolving beater and the revolvable dust cage and with dust trunk connection between the revolvable dust cage and the suction means, and whereby the operative treatment is partly pneumatic and partly mechanical as set forth.

2. A hopper bale opener, hopper feeder, or like apparatus for pneumatically and mechanically opening and cleaning cotton, wherein there is combined a front compartment, a substantially closed rear compartment, and cotton lifting and regulating means and a revolvable beater behind the lifting contrivance and with suction-affected conduit provision directly connecting the front compartment with the closed rear compartment, the latter having a dirt outlet and a combined revolvable dust cage with damper at the delivery end of the substantially closed rear con'ipartnient, and end outlet leading [10 a dirt cenveying trunk in connection with which there is combined a suction appliance, all whereby dust, dirt, and some fibre can be short eircnited to the beater in the rear compart1nent,tl1e dust and cotton to be separated, and to enable the revolvable dust cage to receive an adequate supply of air as related.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification.

TOM NUTTALL. SYDNEY ALFRED SHORTER. 

